Fluid lock



J. s. PACE, JR 3,102,315

FLUID LOCK Sept. 3, 1963 Filed May 29, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 HHH.

Sept. 3,l 1963 J. s. PACE, JR 3,102,315

FLUID LOCK Filed May 29, 1961 2 Shee'ts-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

Jak 6.' Pace,

` of the fluid lock illustrated in FIG;` 1,;

i `3,102,315 FLUID LOCK l ohii S. Pace, Jr., v7 Woodlawn Lane,Alexandria, Va.

" The invention described herein may bemanufactured and used by` or lforythe Government'foi" governmental i Qpurposes without the payment of anyroyalty thereon.

y y Unidxfecslanf O f fi'llie present 'inventionifreiates to `fluiddrivenflocks "f which com-bine both linear rotary motion. t

`Anobject` of this invention` is to provide a lock capable ofoperationby remote controlgand capable of exerting great force, both inalinearanda-rotary direction,twhile `closing and opening,V laudofholdingagainst great force t while in the locked position. ,t "f Another objectof this invention is to provide a lock` capable oflinear androtarymoton, which is suitable "foruse in agseries of saidlocks which`are controlled simultaneously lby a single s'et of controls andoperating from a single tluidV pressure source. i

skilled in the nar-t upon reference to the following descriptions intheaccompanying/drawings in which:

Other objects and advantages will be `apparent to those i FIG. l is a`linear'cross-section of a preferred embodiment; Y 1

FIG. 2 illustrates aficombined shaft .and locking lug FIG. 3 is asection dniine d-djof FIG. l;

FIG. 4 is a sectionon line a-aof FIG. l; .Y

`FIG. 5 is a section on line bt-bv of FIG. 1; i l FIG. `6 is a sectiononline c-c of FIG. l;

FIG. 7 illustrates a method of controllingthe linear t and rotary motionof the'lock individually; and

FIG. 8 illustrates a method of vfluid pressure control 1 of the'lock bysequencing its linear and rotary motion. Referringindetail to FIG.`1, apreferred embodiment t of the fluid lock has, as its moving element, acombined splined and` pisto'ried shaft 1, the shaft portion thereofoper-ating within a cylinder tube 8 ,and a rotor tube 6. "Rigidlysecuredlto the end of the combination splined and pistoned shaft 1 is apiston` 9, which, in 'thelinear movement of the shaft v 1, willmovefroma position close and nearly adjacent .to cap 18 `to `aposition'vclose and, nearly adjacent tocartridge 20, and return toitsoriginal position. `The force lcausing this vmotion is created by theintroduction of fluid through port 10 and 'the simultaneous evacuationof liuid through port 11, to cause the linear opening motion; and theintroduction of uid pressure into port 11 together" with thesimultaneous evacuation of fluid through' port 10 to cause .a closinglinear motion of the lock. As seen in FIG. 1, fluid pressure introducedl through either port 10 or port 11 will causetlie fluid to t, enter thecylinder tube 8 and bring pressure to bear upon t `either side of piston9.` Y Pis-ton 9 is provided with packing 1 `Rotary motion of theloclcican takeplace simultaneousof the flow of fluid intoand out ofports 10 and 1l.v Ro- `3 `tary `motion takes place upon the exerting offorce upon "",thelrrotor blades 16` which is transmitted tothe shaft 1 tvthrough splines 2. FIG. 3illustrates a preferred `embodiment oftherotortube 6, showing theinter-relationship of -the rotor .blade assembly21 and the splined portion ,"of the shaft 2, `as wellas stops 23 whichserve to `limit rotary motion .and -to inclose .the individual blades 16y 3,102,315 Patented Sept. 3, 1963 r., ICC

2 evacuation of fluid through ports 12 and 15. lClockwise rotary motionis, of course, produced by the introduction of fluid pressure throughports 12 and 15, with the simultaneous evacuation offluid through ports13 and 14.

t linear motion of the shaft.

'Ihe locking means, or connection means, ofthe preferred embodiment asshown -by FIGS, 2, 5, and 6, comprise -a disk-shaped portion 3 proximalto the splined portion'of Ythe shaft, a T-catch portion 4 at the distalportion of theshaft, and a cylindrical intervening section. `Theconnecting means such as that shown in the preferred embodiment enablethe T-shaped ,lug 4 to engage a slot in a member to be locked byrotation of the lock.V Then with the closing linear motion of the lock,as described above, thelocked member would be drawn up securely againstthe member iupon which the fluid lock is mounted.

71 depictssehematically a means of individually .and separablycontrolling the lineart-and rotary motion of [the lock. Pump 27 is thepressure source. Fluid is returned to reservoir 28. Control valves`25and 26 each allow individualfcontrol of their respective linear androtary functions. When valve 25is in the parallel position,

the piston travels tothe opentposition and when Valve A25 is in .thecrossed position, thepiston travels towards the closed position. Whenvalve 26 is in its parallel position, rota-tion (see FIG. 3) isclockwise, and when valve 26 is crossed, rotation Iis `counterclockwise.i

FIG. 8 depicts a method of control whereby the linear rotary motion oflock are sequenced, so that, in opening the lock with control valve 29in the parallel position the linear motion takes place rst, during andafter which time, the fluid pressure and quantity is building up in asequencing valve Sill in order that when linear motion is complete androtary motion is free to takeplace there is suicient quantity andpressure of the valve 22 for linear motion after the rotary motion hasproceeded to the point where the locking lug is uncoupled, at which timethe linear closing can take place.

In the preferred embodiment, the lock is operated by oil under pressure;however, the lock may also be loperated by anyother liquid or by a gas;When appropriate,

l ly with the linear motion, or separably at any linear position of thelock which might be Ifixed by the stoppage the protruding end of theshaft can be permanently attached to or madea part of the member whichis to be coupled and locked. Such would be the case when an assaultbridge section is mounted upon .a float or ferry. When not in use, thebridge section is maintained in a position superimposed over andparallel with the float or ,t ferry. Prior to utilizing the bridgesection as a portion of tion with the ferry or float, the bridge sectionnow being perpendicular to the ferry or float and in a usable posiftion. Thefluidlock is also extremely well adapted for use in securingfolding bridge sections in their unfolded `or working positions. 4 Thelinear movement of the lock can, of course, be

y varied in length of stroke and force of movement by a proportionalvariation in the length of the shaft and cylinder and the diameter ofthe piston. A variation. of pressure of the uid will also create acorresponding increase or decrease in the force applied. The force ofthe torque actuator can, of course, be varied by increasing ordecreasing the size of the rotor blades as Well as by increasing ordecreasing the pressure. By using only one rotor blade and one stopinstead of two of each, as in the principle embodiment, the are ofrotation can be increased to nearly 360.

The control systems shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 may be used to operate asmany as eight fluid locks simultaneously simply by connecting them tothe valves 25 and 26 in parallel (FIG. 7) or by connecting them to thesequencing valves 22 and 29 in parallel (FIG. 8).

Other possible uses of the uid lock, not mentioned above, and notintended to be all inclusive, .are for gun laying, material handling andfor heavy gear shifting.

I claim:

l. A uid operated lineal and rotary moving lock comprising a shaft, atorque actuator engaging said shaft, a cylinder, a piston operativelyattached to said shaft and lineally and rotatably movable within saidcylinder, mounting means for said torque actuator and cylinder, meansfor attaching said shaft -to a structure for locking purposes, and uidcontrol means for -the said torque actuator and said piston.

2. A lluid operated lineal and rotary moving lock as described in claim1 Where the means of attaching said shaft tto a structure to be lockedis a locking lug having a disk-shaped portion proximal to the saidmounting means, a T-catch portion on its distal end, and a relativelynarrow shaft-like intermediate portion.

3. A duid operated lineal and rotary moving lock comprising a shafthaving a splined portion, at least one rotor blade lineally slidable andnonrotatably engaged upon the spline portion of the said shaft, a rotor-tube encasing the outer edges of said rotor blade, fluid ports in saidrotor tube so located as to provide fluid pressure application and fluidevacuation on either side of said rotor blade, a cylinder, a pistonrigidly aixed -to said shaft and lineally and rotatably movable withinsaid cylinder, fluid ports at each end of the said cylinder, mountingmeans for said rotor tube and cylinder, means for at- -taching saidshaft to a structure to be locked, and means of simultaneously applyingpressure and evacuating fluid to and from said uid ports on either sideof said rotor blade and said piston.

4. A iiuid operated lineal and rotary moving lock as described Iin claim3 Where the means of attaching said shaft to a structure to be locked isa locking lug having a disk-shaped portion proximal to said mountingmeans, a T-catc-h portion on its distal end, and a relatively narrowshaftdike intermediate portion.

5. A fluid operated lineal and rotary moving lock as described in claim3 further including a sleeve threadably connected 4to said rotor ltubeon one end and said cylinder on the other end and a cartridge threadablyconnected with the sleeve on its periphery land snugly surrounding theunsplined lpor-tion of said shaft forming a barrier between said rotortube and said cylinder and delimiting -the lineal motion of said piston.

6. A Huid operated lineal and rotary moving lock as described in claim 3where pressure applying means include sequencing valves disposed tosequence lineal and rotary motion of said lock.

References Cited in the ile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,811,136 Westcott et al. Oct. 29, 1957

1. A FLUID OPERATED LINEAL AND ROTARY MOVING LOCK COMPRISING A SHAFT, ATORQUE ACTUATOR ENGAGING SAID SHAFT, A CYLINDER, A PISTON OPERATIVELYATTACHED TO SAID SHAFT AND LINEALLY AND ROTATABLY MOVABLE WITHIN SAIDCYLINDER, MOUNTING MEANS FOR SAID TORQUE ACTUATOR AND CYLINDER, MEANSFOR ATTACHING SAID SHAFT TO A STRUCTURE FOR LOCKING PURPOSES, AND FLUIDCONTROL MEANS FOR THE SAID TORQUE ACTUATOR AND SAID PISTON.